Wednesday, January 19, 2011

Although it never gets any easier, these things do help me personally

Yesterday I shared about my long time struggle with weight management and wellness and the fact that it really never gets easier, but that it's not an excuse to give up.

Even though it doesn't get easier I've found that some things are helpful to me on the journey. I've found it's key to share with others about this because those who struggle learn so much from each other. (That's one of the reasons I'm committed to Weight Watcher meetings -- as they say, "the meetings are the magic.")
I thought I'd share a few things that are helpful to me since this is a topic that seems to resonate with so many, and quite frankly I've learned that wellness has so much to do with how I'm doing as a woman, wife, mother, minister, employee, friend, etc. It affects EVERYTHING.

Here we go...

Accountability WW meetings, plus a few friends I'm accountable to who ask me the hard questions.

With a full house of others who are not all on the same journey, I can't really purge my cupboards completely of everything I shouldn't have, but I do stock them full of what I should have. The choices are there - it's up to me to make them.

On the new WW plan, all fruits and most veggies are "0" points. I get my favorite things washed and cut up when I bring them home from the store and put them in ziploc bags to have on hand whenever I want them.

Laughing cow cheese - LOVE it.

I keep favorite snacks with me all the time so I'm never without good choices. I always have at least one of those choices in my purse so I never have to resort to a vending machine or 7-11. I used to be a Slurpee addict and let's face it there's nothing nutritional about a 7-11 except maybe the pile of bananas by the register and those you might have to re-mortgage your house to buy. No thanks.

My friend and fellow blogger Cassandra Stafford told me that she freezes bananas and then drizzles 1 TBSP of chocolate syrup over them for a yummy treat. I tried that and liked it but my new fav thing that I came up with is 1 TBSP of Smuckers Fat Free Hot Fudge...I warm that up for 15 sec in the microwave and then dip fresh fruit in it. My favorite things to dip are bananas and fresh cherries.

Truvia! I use a lot of it. Iced Tea has always been my drink of choice and I have a few glasses a day with Truvia sweetener.

Soup - I make at least one pot of soup a week - a different kind each week - and I eat it for lunch for at least a few days. Along with having it that week I freeze a one quart container for later, for weeks that I don't have time to make a homemade soup. Soup is very filling and a "comfort food" of sorts for me and I make low fat ones that are good for you with lots of fresh veggies and beans, etc.

I use ham boullion seasoninng and olive oil for dishes that are good with a smoky flavor such as beans, etc. I use this as a substitute for bacon or lard, etc. and it's the same great taste and almost no calories and no bad fats.

I don't do things I won't keep doing once I get back in total shape. The other day a friend was sharing with me how they take special drinks everywhere (never order them in restaurants) and they carry 1 point cupcakes around for desserts when they go out to eat, etc. and wanted to know if I would do that. I said absolutely not. That would drive me crazy and it's not a "lifestyle" to me --- it's more like desperation. My friend does lose weight a lot quicker than I do by doing this, however I know me...if I do that kind of stuff I won't keep it up, it won't last, and I can't maintain it. When I'm in optimal shape I am not going to keep dragging special drinks and 1 point cupcakes around with me the rest of my life so I'm not doing it now. I just make better choices when I go out to eat.

I order unconventional things as long as they are better choices and they make me happy. Recently I ate breakfast out with a few friends and we were all ordering off of the breakfast menu and the choice was hash browns or breakfast potatoes. The hash browns were cooked on the grill sitting in a pile of bad oils. The breakfast potatoes were deep fried. I chose neither but being that potatoes are my favorite food I didn't want to miss them altogether. I ordered a healthier choice. On my breakfast plate was 1/2 cup of mashed potatoes. Maybe not the "perfect choice" but a much healthier one than the other two. I really don't care that my friends laugh that I'm eating a poached egg alongside a mound of mashed potatoes. They won't be laughing anymore when I'm rocking a bikini again this summer. Yes, I said again. Did you miss my bikini post? LOL Too bad, I'm not linking to it. Knock yourself out if you want to search. :)

I don't LOVE exercise besides biking, skating or dancing. The only one I do "on my own" is biking. I skate or dance with friends, so it's not all the time, just special occasions. As far as biking I do it a few times a week. Other exercises like going to the community gym, getting on my elliptical at home or doing a video are not things I get excited about, but I remind myself about how great I feel after I'm done. Without fail I feel great when it's over, so I try to keep the end in mind and reward myself afterwards with a non-food item like a Bath and Body Works moonlight path bubble bath, a movie I want to see on TV, spending a good book or spending time with the dogs.

When dealing with weight loss break it down into small increments (every 5 lb lost) and reward myself after every 5 lb with a non-food treat.

Take a break from work and call my friends more. One reason I overeat is emotional stress and anger. I can easily get mad at somebody in the church and instead of giving it to them both barrells like I want to, (but can't because you can't do that to people and keep pastoring or really hold down any job for long) I abuse myself and eat a whole bag of potato chips. Not cool. I realized a while back through a very difficult conversation I had with the Lord that this needed to stop. I was confronted with ministering to a situation with a young person who was cutting themselves. Lots of kids do that nowadays, you know. It's like they are trying to respond and let out the pain that's inside but in reality they are just abusing themselves. Thinking of this precious teenager's actions I said to myself, "she's so beautiful and talented and smart and has everything going for her...why is she doing this stupid thing?" and the Lord spoke to me and said, "how is it really different from what you do? You've got lots of things going for you too but when people mistreat you, instead of responding right you eat a bag of chips thinking you're letting the pain out and all you're doing is abusing your body...so get yourself straight before you call her crazy." Ouch. That day I stopped doing that. Really. No more binging because I'm angry. I'm happy to say through God's help, it's been a significant amount of time since I've done that and by His grace I'll continue to be binge free. Instead of eating the bag of chips I call a friend and get my feelings out.

I could share a lot more but I'll stop here for today. That last point was a hard one to admit publicly. But I think somebody might need to hear it and come to the same realization I did.

1 comment:

THANK YOU! I realized last night that I don't eat when I am sad I eat when I am angry. Realized this after the fact but at least I have realized it right! :) On step at a time my friend. For me I if I don't take small steps the typical give up, quit routine will happen. Thanks for the tips :)